First few days in Egypt

Hey all. So I’ll give you a brief run-down of the last little while in Egypt. As most of you know, brevity is not my strong point, but I will try. It will be good for me.

Dec 6
Arrived Tuesday night at about 7pm to Cairo Airport. Was picked up by a friend of Amani’s because Amani had to work. We drove about 1 hr to where I will be living, with Amani and her parents Nabila and Helmi. Helmi is the brother of my grandfather, and Nablia is the sister of my grandmother. Since Amani wasn’t home, Michael invited me to join a few of his friends, and we hit up a coffee shop. This is a very popular activity here. Amani joined us briefly, then we all came back and had dinner at home.

Dec 7
The next day, I did a bit of walking around, but not too far. Crossing the street is insane. It is extremely unsafe. Sometimes people (including Amani and Taunt Nabila) take a taxi to cross the street. It is that bad. This is because driving is so crazy. There are so many cars, and they just drive. There are lines painted on the road, but their purpose is purely decorative. Amani said, “if you drive in the lane, you will hit everyone, because no one drives in the lane.” You can’t imagine unless you have seen it.

Two quick stories about crossing the street and driving, from watching the street from our balcony (we live on a main street in Mohandeseen (“Engineers”), a region in Cairo in an apartment building on the 7th floor). First, I watched a [I will interject to note that Taunt Nabila just brought me a cup of tea and a piece of cake…more on this later, but I have lots to say it might be another post] man carrying a baby cross the street. He had to be assisted by a police officer. Secondly, a man was crossing the street. While he was in the middle, a bus was coming. He stuck his hand out to wave down the bus. The bus slowed down, and he jumped on. In the middle of the street, not even on the edge!

That was my big adventure for the day. I also did some unpacking, played some backgammon (a favorite of Uncle Helmi). Was still tired from the trip.

Dec 8
Yesterday, was a very big day. I have much to say, but not the focus or energy to say it all (I am getting sick of typing). So I will give the activities, without all the commentary. Of course, activities are less interesting than commentary, but I will add some as a feel up to it. I have things to say, so as you know me, you know I will get around to it.

First Amani drove me to the University of Cairo (she is a professor of German literature). She had a lecture, so she dropped me off, and I just walked around for a while. Then, I walked down the street to the Zoo. I walked there for a while, and met a couple of kids (maybe 13-15 years old or so), and we chatted. They practiced their English with me while I practiced Arabic with them. My Arabic sucks. I have a very limited vocabulary. They were very friendly. After this, I walked to the Nile, and walked along it. As I sat to write in my journal I was approached by, and had a “conversation” with a very young boy and an older girl (his sister or mother, I’m guessing). They were begging. After this, I walked further, then decided it was time to go home.

I knew the street I lived on was a long way, but I could walk, so tried to ask a police officer where my street was. He didn’t know, asked a few other officers, and finally their captain. The captain knew of, or not, more or less, (I think he knew fully, actually, but evaded it, thinking it was too far). His name was Mohammed. But he was actually very friendly, he and struck up a conversation with me. So we chatted for a while. His English was very good, which is frustrating, because it is hard to talk in Arabic, so more of the conversation tends to be in English than Arabic. I have to be patient with my Arabic, and how long it will take to learn. (Look: commentary slipped in). Anyways, he gave me his mobile (cell) number and we’re going to hang out this evening.

Then, I came home, ate, and then went to church in the evening. It’s a young adults meeting, for university age people. Amani didn’t join me, just dropped me off with some people she knew. I knew this would be the case, because she had another church group that evening, but I thought it would be better to hit up the service than to stay home. So Amani came after the service, we went home.

That was my big day. Today has been quiet. I may study some Arabic with Nabila. I have made some phone calls to try and arrange some things, but they are going slowly. I will meet Mohammed after 7 tonight.

So that’s all. Much more to say later, both new information and comments on some the experiences I had, how they affected me personally, and also to help you guys get a feel for the culture.

Until next time.

P.S. I forgot to mention. The weather is quite nice. It is mild even for Egypt standards. Usually, sunny/cloudy, high 20, low 10.